H. P. Lovecraft / Cthulhu mythos

[RaNkeri]

I've recently gained interest on Lovecraft's novels, and I'd like to know if you could recommend any good ones? Is there any specific order which I should maintain while reading them, or are novels' plots independent?

[Emu]

Only crotchburned faggots call it "mythos."

[RaNkeri]

I've recently gained interest on Lovecraft's novels, and I'd like to know if you could recommend any good ones? Is there any specific order which I should maintain while reading them, or are novels' plots independent?

[Grislygus]

He's only wrote something like sixty stories in his life, not too hard to read them all. There's not really an order to them, just read a bunch and you'll start to get a general idea of the whole shebang.

[Emu]

There's a penguin press collection of his stories, but I can't remember the name of it. It's got most of his best ones.

[EndersGame]

The Shadow out of Time

[RaNkeri]

There's a penguin press collection of his stories, but I can't remember the name of it. It's got most of his best ones.

Could it be Call of Cthulhu, The: And Other Weird Stories? It's published penguin books, and is part of the Penguin Modern Classics.

S.T. Joshi presents a selection of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction, from the early tales of nightmares and madness such as "The Outsider" and "Rats in the Walls", through the grotesquely comic "Herbert West - Reanimator" and "The Hound" to the cosmic terror of "The Shadow over Innsmouth".

[Emu]

Yeah, that's the one.

[Spiral Architect]

The Shadow Over Innsmouth/ The Lurking Fear is out there. and so is The Watchers Out Of Time in the Carroll and Graf Masters of Horror series.

Shadow Over Innsmouth is a good one.

[DuFresne]

What would Rankeri have ever done without you?

[RaNkeri]

I've read the Penguin's Call of Cthulhu and other weird stories, and my of my did it keep me on it's grab. Might sound like a pussy but some of the novels really made me feel uneasy with the fact that I didn't have any lights in my apartment at the time when I read it.

All the novels were awesome, but my favorites were definitely:

Dagon
The hound
Rats in the walls
The Call of Cthulhu (although because of the hype I was waiting for a scarier novel. It was still awesome though)
The shadow over Innsmouth (Seriously makes me want to try the Cthulhu game)
The whisperer in darkness
The color out of space
Cool air
Herbert West - Reanimator
Facts concerning the late Arthur Jermyn and his family

I'm definitely going to buy the other two of Penguin's Lovecraft collections

[Inferus]

The Shadow out of Time


Yes, one of my all time faves! That and "Herbert West, Re-Animator".

[Inferus]

I've read the Penguin's Call of Cthulhu and other weird stories, and my of my did it keep me on it's grab. Might sound like a pussy but some of the novels really made me feel uneasy with the fact that I didn't have any lights in my apartment at the time when I read it.

All the novels were awesome, but my favorites were definitely:

Dagon
The hound
Rats in the walls
The Call of Cthulhu (although because of the hype I was waiting for a scarier novel. It was still awesome though)
The shadow over Innsmouth (Seriously makes me want to try the Cthulhu game)
The whisperer in darkness
The color out of space
Cool air
Herbert West - Reanimator
Facts concerning the late Arthur Jermyn and his family

I'm definitely going to buy the other two of Penguin's Lovecraft collections

I totally forgot about "The Color Out of Space". Loved the psychological edge added to the alien parasite/blob/whatever it was. "Cool Air" was good but predictable as was "Jermyn".

[Blue Gularis]

In honor of the Halloween season I've been reading (and re-reading) classic horror/ghost stories. I thought about starting a thread on it but thought it may be too highbrow.

There's no particular order to them and the MYTHOS (hmmmm, what's that burning sensation? Oh, dropped a roach in my lap) is pretty loosely put together and mostly incoherent.

Last night I read HPL's The Doom That Came To Sarnath. It's a classic.

At the Mountains of Madness was also pretty good and is nothing like the shitty movie of the same name.

Since you like Lovecraft here are some other stories to try:

In Ygiroth -Walter C deBill jr.
A Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad -MR James
They Bite -Anthony Boucher

Enjoy.

[AlliSabbah]

August derleth also wrote some Cthulu books too. Strangely nobody has mentioned The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.

[saltshakermaniac]

The Dunwitch Horror is a good one

[Naught]

Yes, do go and pick up The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories if you haven't already (but seeing as how the thread was made back in August, I'm guessing this point will be pretty moot). It's pretty much the quintessential Lovecraft compilation, and it should suit you fine until you turn into a Lovecraftmonger and become immersed in his work to the point where you join a Cthulhu cult and get AIDS from sharing blood in some archaic ceremonial dagger cutting ritual. My favorite short stories were The Call of Cthulhu, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and Herbert West: Reanimator. They're all quite good, though, aside from a few that are a bit slow to read through, and there are plenty of others but I can't think at the moment of their names since it's been over two years since I last read any of them.

[Eyelobe]

Ya, I'm a fan of Lovecraft, but in a desperate battle with supernatural forces I'd rather be hanging with Poe.

Poe is a better writer too :P

[Naught]

Poe was very talented, and I agree that he was a better writer, but I wouldn't completely discredit Lovecraft. The differences lie foremost in thematic elements and style. Lovecraft's depiction of fear is predominantly based on loss of sanity, whereas Poe is more versatile in what he attempts to frighten the reader with, for example. Lovecraft's writing is also incredibly distinctive, which can be either a blessing or a curse however you want to look at it. The way he sets up his stories, his outlandish vocabulary, even down to the manner in which he describes things becomes easily identifiable after reading some of his work. That's not to say that his stories suffer any detriment from this. I haven't been bored with his work yet, save for a few slow-paced short stories, like I mentioned before.

[Eyelobe]

True enough and well put, Naught :)

I guess I just found some of Lovecraft's language awkward (but when it worked well it was exceptionally effective) and his slow stuff REALLY slow. His imagination was amazing though, which I completely respect. I've just always preferred Poe.

Lovecraft IS really fun to read though. I think I got my army of cats idea from one of his stories...

[AlliSabbah]

True enough and well put, Naught :)

I guess I just found some of Lovecraft's language awkward (but when it worked well it was exceptionally effective) and his slow stuff REALLY slow. His imagination was amazing though, which I completely respect. I've just always preferred Poe.

Lovecraft IS really fun to read though. I think I got my army of cats idea from one of his stories...


The army of cats come from the story I mentioned The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath.

[Grislygus]

You damn punk kids and your Lovecraft an your Edgar Allen Pop an your Lord Byron an your rock and roll music

[Dixie]

William Hope Hodgson is one of Lovecraft's biggest inspirations as far as other writers go. There's a collection of some of his best short stories called "Adrift on the Haunted Seas" that is excellent.

My favorite Lovecraft is still What The Moon Brings, it's so unsettling. I love the fact he forces your imagination to work that hard.

[Dr. Octogonopus]

Couldn't tell if anyone said this yet, but they're making a cthulhu movie.
cthulhuthemovie.com

[executioneer]

i'm sure it'll be great

[Magreaux]

There's already a Cthulhu movie (http://www.amazon.com/Call-Cthulhu-Celebrated-Story-Lovecraft/dp/B000BQTC98/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1201146643&sr=8-1). Don't get too excited, it isn't all that great. It didn't win a glorious BROWN JENKIN award like the Tori Spelling version.

[Dr. Octogonopus]

... is it that one? I can't decide if I want to see that or not. I have the feeling that gay looking kid is going to 'experiment' and ruin the date.

[RaNkeri]

I loved the cthulhu movie Magreaux mentioned. They made it in the style of 1920's silent films and were succesful IMO. I definitely encourage you to watch the film. The same people are also going to release The whisperer in darkness late 2008. You can view trailers for both films on youtube.

[Zomboid]

This is a fan made depiction of the creature from Lovecraft's lesser known "The Sinister Happenings at Strickland"

http://www.tvguide.com/images/pgimg/king-peggy-hill6.jpg

[JakeOfAllTrades]

When I first discovered Lovecraft, I was blown away by it. The racism in The Call of Cthulhu was a bit off, but the attitudes were historically accurate to the time.

I once tried to write a story serial where Lovecraft somehow managed to become a schoolteacher in the 21st Century, but he wasn't allowed to read his work to the 3rd Graders because it would scare them. Some day I'll continue it.

[Magreaux]

I had high hopes for that Cthulhu movie considering the awesomeness of the cover and my love of early cinematic horror, but they didn't really nail the 1920's feeling at all. It is black & white and it is silent, i'll give them that, but I think these people didn't actually watch any of those old movies before filming. It seemed like they thought that they could pull off the early cinema look by just not trying. There's a scene where the same four or five people are very obviously greenscreened and duplicated to form a group of cannibals, and it looks so godawful that you have to wonder if they did it on purpose for comedic effect. It couldn't have been that hard to find 30 people and dress them up like cannibals. I hate to be so critical since it's a small endevour but I just can't honestly recommend this movie, especially not to people who actually watch early horror films.

ANYHOW this is the comics & books forum so it's time to get back on track. I'm trying to finish At the Mountains of Madness but i'll be damned if I can read more than a short story by this guy. After thirty pages, i'm winded. Has anyone here read through this entire book? Or The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath?

[RaNkeri]

Yeah, the cannibal scene was rather poorly made, but I wouldn't judge the whole movie just because of some minor errors that occured. The fact is that the movie was true to the novel, which is quite rare, and was able to catch the right "Lovecraftian" atmosphere.

When it comes to his longer stories, well I've never found the length of the story to be a problem. Lovecraft has a great way of building up the suspense and it works great, atleast for me. Sure, At the mountains of madness was sightly dull at some points, but he really makes up for it later. I'd rank At the mountains of madness as one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. If you find at the mountains of madness to be boring, well I could suggest The whisperer in darkness and The case of Charles Dexter Ward, which offer more suspense, if that's what you're after.

Although Charles Dexter Ward was probably Lovecraft's longest story and has a huge buildup before the suspense really starts kicking you in the groin. :/

[Magreaux]

Yes it stuck closely to the story, but the atmosphere was hindered by the poor, seemingly rushed quality of the effects towards the end. They cut too many corners and the whole movie suffered as a result. Some of the matte painting effects could've been effectively masked with some film grain, and not even digitally. Just tightly wrap some pantyhose around the lens (or before it if the lens is removable). As such it's much more like a poorly made 50's giant monster film, like The Giant Claw.

It's not that his work is boring, it's just that I can only read that kind of heavily descriptive writing for but so long. A whole novel's worth (or is it a novella?) of descriptions of things that cannot be described is really pushing it.

[Zbu Manowar]

The best Lovecraft renditions are the Stuart Gordon ones, ala 'Re-Animator' and 'From Beyond.' Bar none. Also, does anybody know the other authors who participated in the Cthulhu mythos? I know Amazon has some books but I'd be damned if I can remember.

[Magreaux]

Frank Belknap Long is the only name I can think of (Hound of Tindalos). I'm not sure if Robert Bloch actually wrote some Cthulhu stories or was just very influenced by them.

[JakeOfAllTrades]

Case of Charles Dexter Ward was eerie. It had this kind of "not quite right" about it, in a way that stuff like Herbert West: Re-Animator didn't have. Re-Animator was good, but compared to Dexter Ward it just seems silly.

And I have read both of them.

[AlliSabbah]

The best Lovecraft renditions are the Stuart Gordon ones, ala 'Re-Animator' and 'From Beyond.' Bar none. Also, does anybody know the other authors who participated in the Cthulhu mythos? I know Amazon has some books but I'd be damned if I can remember.

August Derleth did quite a few Cthulu books.

[Zbu Manowar]

Thanks! Off to Amazon!

[RaNkeri]

Well, I've now read all 3 of the Penguin's Lovecraft collections. At the moment I'm searching for more.

Has anybody read The horror in the museum and other revisions? It contains stories revised or ghostwritten by Lovecraft.

[Girl Drink Drunk]

"When, long ago, the gods created Earth;
In Jove's fair image Man was shaped at birth. The beasts for lesser parts were designed; Yet were too remote from humankind. To fill the gap, and join the rest of Man, Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan. A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure, Filled it with vice, and called the thing a ******."

:(